My Productive Backyard
Turn your backyard into a productive food-growing paradise
The ideal Kitchen Garden design for maximum food production
This is my version of the ultimate space efficient ideal kitchen garden design for maximum food production. It can be used in a variety of spaces where it is necessary to get maximum production from minimal area. This plan is specifically for an enclosed...
Think about growing more than just annual vegetables – Perennial food producing plants.
Often when we are thinking about sustainable food production, we can become focused on the annual vegetable garden, and although I believe it is an integral part of any productive backyard, I also feel that we should not neglect those perennial plants that will...
Why Grow Perennial vegetables.
Perennial vegetables are a great way to supplement your annual vegetable production with very little effort. You plant them once, then get a harvest year after year with very little maintenance. They are generally more drought tolerant and need less care than...
Pruning cool climate fruit trees.
Here is a quick overview of the basic pruning requirements for the most common cool climate fruit trees. You can read my other posts on Pruning Fruiting Trees and Pruning: Equipment Needed here. It is always a good idea to have someone show you how to prune and point...
Pruning: Equipment needed.
For successful pruning to occur it is important to use the right equipment. Using the right equipment for the pruning task you have will mean that the task will be easier for you and the wounds inflicted on the plant will heal quickly maintaining the health of your...
Pruning Fruiting Trees
Pruning is the process of removing parts of a plant for health reasons or to encourage certain types of growth. Not all food bearing plants require pruning, whereas some species benefit greatly if pruned correctly and pruning requirements are often specific to the...
Backyard fruit growing.
Photo sourced from nurseriesonline If you would like to try growing your own fruit such as peaches, apples, blackberries and raspberries now this is the time to get into nurseries and check out their bare-rooted stock. Even in the smallest of backyards there is...
How I am using the vertical space created by my vegetable garden enclosure.
It has been nearly 12 months since I installed a steel and mesh enclosure over my vegetable garden. My initial reaction was “wow how easy is it now to access and work in the space” but with time I have started to see the advantages of the structure for use in vertical...
Growing organic blueberries
Home grown organic blueberries are just delightful. Compact and super easy to grow, blueberries are a must for anyone interested in growing their own food. Blueberries are a long-lived plant and whilst they are expensive to buy, they will give you a lifetime...
Protecting your garden with an enclosure.
Are you thinking of putting in a permanent walk in enclosure for your vegetable garden and fruit orchard? In my opinion it is well worth the investment. Watch a tour of my enclosure here > When I first started growing vegetables the bird population took a few...
Successive Planting.
One of the most important things that backyard producers need to learn is how to have a continuous production of food. The feast or famine production of many backyards can be both frustrating and demoralising. Not to mention a waste of energy, mostly your...
Soup, the answer to all your vegetable intake deficiencies.
Soup an easy way of increasing your daily vegetable intake. I really love soup and vegetable-based soups in particular. Pumpkin, carrot, minestrone, broccoli, mushroom, Borsch (beetroot), leek and potato, tomato, and basil, corn the list is endless. I love just...